Chapter Thirty-Three: Palace Three
Xia Zi Li looked back at the past, the bright yellow canopy, the phoenix spreading its wings, chasing each other in a circle, the majestic procession slowly approaching this side.
Several women with beautiful figures and elegant demeanor entered from the doorway, led by a woman wearing a bright red dress with golden embroidery and five phoenixes, her hair adorned with a thousand-leafed gold peony headdress, every branch and leaf wrapped in gold and crimson. Around her neck, she wore a large, heavy, double-petaled peony pendant, its surface gleaming like polished gold. The overall effect was as if the entire person had been gilded with a thin layer of golden light. Under this halo, behind her back, a large patch of pure white plum blossoms stood out, their beauty striking. Her eyebrows were shaped like a phoenix's, her eyes bright and beautiful, though not stunningly so. She was an uncommon beauty, elegant and refined in demeanor, with an air that inspired both affection and reverence.
And she, Xia Ziying, was radiant in a long, fox-fur coat made from the finest arctic fox skin, with a soft white fur trim at her neck that unmistakably identified it as the rare and precious fox-fur. Her eyebrows were naturally dark and expressive, and her eyes, like those of a phoenix, shone bright and alluring, capable of rendering men weak in the knees with just one gentle glance, willing to surrender to her charms.
Compared to when she first entered the palace, she now appears more elegant and refined.
Behind her were several other consorts from the palace.
Xia Ziying stood with one hand on the Mingzhu, now she was confident in her beauty and deeply favored by the emperor. In the palace, no one could compare to her, the concubines around her were all ordinary people, standing here made her feel like a crane among chickens. The empress would still be outdone by her, Xia Ziying's gaze swept shallowly across the room, when her eyes fell on Xia Ziyu, her expression changed slightly.
A fierce light flashed in her eyes, Xia Zi Li, this woman, was actually standing here unscathed. With Yan Wang's strength and ability, as well as his deep-seated hatred for the Xia family, she shouldn't be alive, or at least should have been left with only half a life. What had gone wrong? She looked perfectly fine now, could it be that the information she had gathered from Ning Wang was not accurate enough?
She had put in so much effort to get her into the Yan Wang Fu, and yet she appeared unscathed before her, it was infuriating. Moreover, this silver fox fur coat on her body was something that the Emperor had painstakingly collected from officials to please her, and today she deliberately wore it in front of the Empress and the various palace consorts just to make them take a good look, to let them know who was currently the most favored woman in the harem. But the light purple Arctic fox fur coat on Xia Ziyu's body had pierced her heart, this kind of fur coat, there was only one in the country of Muxuan, she had only heard about it but never even seen it, let alone wear it.
She stood there, with a faint purple aura, beautiful face, and in an instant, all the divine presence around her was absorbed by her, like stars accompanying the moon, wherever she was, even she could only be a foil.
How can she swallow this...
Xia Zi Li, what makes you, why from childhood to adulthood, no matter what, heaven always gives the best to her first.
She was unwilling, unwilling, sharp fingernails inadvertently pierced into the flesh, completely unaware of the pain.
"Girl——" Mingzhu looked at her face with some horror and couldn't help but softly call out to her.
The same, Xia Zi's gaze towards Xia Ziyao was also full of hatred.
She owes everything she has now to her, if it wasn't for her, she wouldn't have ended up like this.
At this time, people were already kneeling all over the ground.
"Your humble servant welcomes Her Majesty the Empress——"
Xia Zi Li learned from others and bowed her head in courtesy. The empress's gentle smile fell on her face, a faint shallow smile.
"Get up, everyone—"
The bright yellow skirt hem is slowly drawing closer in the lowered line of sight.
A bare hand reached in from under her eyes, and Xia Zi Li raised her head with some surprise.
"I've long heard that the Eighth Prince's Manor has promoted to Wang Fei, as the Empress Dowager I should have asked about it earlier. When I came out, I ordered someone to prepare some small gifts and also asked Wang Fei not to despise them..."
A palace maid brought up a small, black box with delicate floral patterns on it. Xia Ziyou gave it a brief glance without opening it and told Ziyu to take it.
"Empress Dowager is worried——"
She was a young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion since childhood, and the etiquette of ladies had been taught by her nanny since she was a child, so she would not be at a loss for these virtual courtesy rituals.
